


From one cage to Another

by Rosypie3



Series: The Lynx in Japan [1]
Category: Assassination Classroom, Banana Fish (Anime & Manga)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Ash Lynx is 14, Canon-Typical Violence, Dead Dove: Do Not Eat, Gen, IT IS SET IN MODERN TIMES, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, Implied/Referenced Underage Sex, Not Beta Read, Pre-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-07
Updated: 2020-12-15
Packaged: 2021-03-10 04:20:39
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,023
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27928165
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rosypie3/pseuds/Rosypie3
Summary: Dino decides against having Ash be personally trained by an assassin when there's a much cheaper option available.
Series: The Lynx in Japan [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2045035
Comments: 13
Kudos: 21





	1. The Lynx enters the classroom

**Author's Note:**

> There is nothing graphic in this but the rape/non-con elements are implied.
> 
> Italicized text= English

Ash was led to Dino’s office. It was a slow traverse through the decadent halls, cold marble walls with red carpet, made to show anyone who enters how rich and powerful of a man Dino is. Finally, Ash stepped into Dino’s office, some invisible threshold was crossed as a cold shiver ran down the young boy's spine, but he dare not show it. 

The bald bulbous man was calmly seated at his desk, cigar hanging from his mouth; he gestured for Ash to take a seat. The boy hesitated for a moment, wary of being in reach of the man, but fought against his urge to bolt and sat down. _“Starting tomorrow you will be traveling to Japan to participate in a government lead experiment. You will start learning Japanese immediately.”_

Ash’s eyes widened at the news. The smoke from the cigar swirled through the air, wrapping around the boy, seeming to choke him, stealing his breath away, unable to return. He’ll be alone in a foreign country without Dino, unable to ask for help, but on the other hand, it would be a perfect opportunity to escape, not like the old bastards gonna bother to learn Japanese. _“Now unfortunately kitten, I can’t come with you. You will however be getting a cellphone and will be expected to answer me whenever I call, understood?”_ The man’s dark eyes burned like embers with the silent threat hidden in them. _“Of course Papa Dino.”_ The boy answered, swift and concise, not a hint of emotion. 

The man waved his hand, signaling the guards in the room to escort the boy out of the room. The walk through the halls felt different this time, something strangely electric was stirring in the air. It was only later that night, as the boy laid his head down to rest, after studying Japanese into the wee hours of the morning, and an eventful night spent at Dino’s beck and call did he realize it was hope. 

%%%

The morning air was crisp as Ash boarded the lavish private jet, with nothing but a few belongings and a couple of bodyguards, courtesy of Dino. The phone in his pocket felt like lead, at any moment Dino could call the blond and he’d be expected to answer, a heavy reminder that he wasn’t truly free, the damned thing was probably bugged. The blond-haired boy slumped into a seat and spent the remainder of the flight practicing his Japanese. 

The flight landed and it was a blur of car ride after car ride only to finally be left alone at a small single bedroom apartment that Dino had bought for the boy. Ash combed through every nook and cranny of the apartment, looking for cameras but also taking note of any and all exits. Satisfied that there were no cameras he unpacked his things, It was a tiring day and tomorrow he had a meeting with his new teachers and principle, without changing out of his clothes Ash flopped onto the bed and clonked out, slumbering the entire night. Not even the usual nightmares could wake him this time.

%%%

Much to the boy's disdain morning came soon enough. He crawled out of bed and dressed in clean clothes before preparing to leave the apartment. The boy’s eyes landed on the phone on the bedside table, he could just leave it, but considering it most definitely has a tracker on it...he takes the phone. Locking the door behind him he trudges over to Kunugigaoka Junior High School. Ash walked up to the large white building, all tall windows and pristine walls. The campus was clean, too clean, it put the boy on edge how perfect everything looked. He took a deep breath and walked inside. The school was currently in session, swaths of kids were whispering and staring at the blond foreigner. Ash ignored them and walked to the staff area. 

There sat a middle-aged Japanese woman, looking bored with the monotony of her job. Ash tapped his fingers on the desk waiting for her to acknowledge him. The women continued to type away, Ash rolled his eyes before clearing his throat. Startled, the women looked up and blushed, either from embarrassment or because of Ash’s looks. Her eyes seemed fixed on his face, her slight blush never leaving. Annoyed, the foreigner clears his throat again, even louder this time. 

That finally snaps the secretary out of her daze, as the unfocused look leaves her eyes. “Hello, do you have an appointment?” 

“Yes, I’m supposed to meet the principal, my name's Ash Lynx.” 

The woman turns away from him as she clicks away on the computer before turning her attention back to him. “I’ll see if Mr. Asano is ready for you, you can go ahead and take a seat.” She explains nodding her head towards a small group of some blue plastic chairs. Ash obliged and sits while the lady starts speaking on the phone, Japanese a little too fast for the boy to fully understand. The boy uses this time to look around the office more, it's all shades of grey and white with some wooden details along with pops of blue sprinkled throughout. A bell sounds and all of the students hurry to get to their classes, looking like ants as they scurry about. “You can go see him now.” With that Ash gets up and walks towards the secretary. “Just walk down there and take a left, then go up the stairs.” She explains pointing towards a hallway to the left of him. Ash nods his understanding and makes his journey towards the principle. 

Ash finally makes it and opens the door to the office. He is greeted by the sight of a man with bright red hair and purple eyes, arms propped on the table with his head resting on his hands. He looks like a normal unassuming man but that changes immediately when the man makes eye contact with Ash, his presence feels just as threatening as Dino’s does. Swallowing his fear the young boy closes the door behind him and stands before the principle. 

_“Welcome, I spoke with your guardian on the phone and he speaks highly of you.”_ The man spoke in perfect English. _“If he called you then you must know that I belong to your E class.”_ The man seemed to frown slightly at that. _“I don’t see why a mind such as yours should waste away over there.”_ Something in the man's gaze shifted it became colder, Ash gulped, _“I think you misunderstand, I am not very smart, I didn’t make it past the second grade.”_

The man's cold calculating gaze doesn’t leave him, he seems to stare through the American boy, as if he knows everything about him. Ash has to fight his every instinct that tells him to shift and move under that piercing gaze, it is only his years of dealing with Dino that prevent these instincts from taking over. Ash hardens his own gaze daring the principle to oppose him, but the principle does not. Instead the man's face and demeanor does a one eighty, the atmosphere brightens and a smile shines on his face. _“Well Mr. Lynx you will be in session for the E class tomorrow then bright and early at 6am. Your guardian has already purchased you some school uniforms and they will arrive at your residence later today.”_ The man’s smile is still on his face. It would look pleasant were it not for the fact that the smile had too many teeth. 

Ash bows before leaving the school and returning home for the rest of the evening. The boy’s nightmares that night were plagued by smiles soiled by ill intent. 

%%%

Ash wakes bright and early for school. He had no problem finding the uniforms that were sent over, they were light grey suits, definitely suits what Dino would prefer him to wear. The boy dresses and brushes his teeth before going to the kitchen area to find some food. Unfortunately, there was no food in the kitchen. The blond would just have to do without for today until he could find the time to steal some or earn some money. With a sigh of annoyance the boy gathers his school supplies and phone before heading to the campus. Before he could leave though his phone pings with a notification, it's a text from Dino. Dino wants a picture of Ash in uniform. The boy obliges, going to the full length mirror and snapping a quick picture before sending it. Finally, he could leave. 

The air outside was cool and crisp. The wind gently blew some leaves near him causing a soft scraping sound to emanate from that direction. It was putting Ash on edge. The boy hadn’t had time to scope out the alleyways and residing area around the apartment, he was regretting that decision now. His shoulders were taught and hunched, every little sound made him tense even more, by the time he reached the summit of the small mountain he was little more than a tight ball of nerves. The boy was wishing now more than ever that he could have brought his gun along on this endeavor. He felt vulnerable without it. Ash looked upon the small mountain, and cursed his city boy genes. He was built for the concrete jungle not an actual jungle and rocky terrain. The boy started the long trek up the small mountain, his lack of food that morning catching up to him, by the time he reached the top he was exhausted. 

His gaze fell upon the run-down schoolhouse, it looked like one of the old timey ones he’d seen in books his tutors had given him. Ash took a moment to place his hands on his knees and catch his breath, his break was disturbed by someone clearing their throat. Instantly, Ash straightened up, eyes wide in alarm at the potential threat, there in front of him was a tall, broad japanese man with brown spikey hair. 

Before Ash could move or think of attacking the man spoke. _“Welcome to class 3-E. Can you speak Japanese?”_ Ash blinked a few times, clearing his head of the sudden adrenaline spike before answering. “Yes.”

The man didn’t react to that he nodded before turning around and walking towards the building, Ash followed behind him listening to the man explain some things about this unusual school. “I am Mr. Karasuma. A government agent for the Ministry of Defense, the super creature who blew up the moon has requested to teach this class, creating a unique opportunity. This class has been tasked with killing him by the end of the school year.” He spoke slowly making sure that he could understand him. 

Ash was aware that there was some government experiment going on but he was unaware of the extent of it. He had heard talk of Dino hiring an assassin to teach Ash how to defend himself, but the old geezer must have decided to enroll Ash here for that instead. They reached the entrance to the classroom then went inside. Ash noticed that the temperature hadn’t changed, there was no air conditioning. They were walking down a wooden hall, almost everything was made out of wood here it seemed. They stopped outside of a wooden door before Karasuma turned to Ash. “You will now meet the super creature, along with another teacher. You will also sign an agreement stating that you will not tell anyone the assassination related things in this classroom.” 

Karasuma opened the door, only to be met with a loud pop and colorful confetti thrown in the man's face, catching in his hair. The loud bang made Ash flinch as the boy had thought it was a gunshot. Karasuma scowled but the effect was ruined by the colorful confetti stuck in the man's hair. He sighed and gestured for Ash to come into the room. Ash did and was immediately struck by what looked like a large yellow octopus with a wide grin on its face excitedly shouting “Welcome!” There was also a blond woman off to the side, she looked just as foreign as Ash did.

Ash had no idea how to respond, all amount of brain function was halted by the strange creature in front of him. Karasuma seemed to notice the boy's shell-shock as he introduced him to the teachers. “The yellow octopus is Korosensei and she is Irina.” He said gesturing to each of the teachers respectively. Ash came out of his shock and scrutinized the other teachers. The boy elected to ignore the weird names for now and just roll with it. He turned to Karasuma, “You said there was something I had to sign?” 

At that, Karasuma went to one of the desks in the small office and started rummaging through the drawers. Ash turned his attention to the other teachers, realizeing he hadn’t introduced himself earlier and Karasuma hadn’t either. “Ash Lynx, I can speak some japanese but I’m still learning.” Ash’s stance was relaxed with his hands in his pockets. “It is a pleasure to meet you Ash!” came the friendly reply from the octopus as he extended a tentacle to shake hands with him. Ash extended his hand and shook the tentacle noting the slightly slimy texture, like a frog. “You seem oddly calm about this.” said the woman suspiciously, her eyes were narrowed at him, distantly Ash noted that they were blue. 

Ash huffed out a laugh “There’s no point in freaking out about it.” Before the women could say anything else, a paper and pen was slid in front of Ash, he picked them up and quickly read it over, it was nothing but a basic non-disclosure agreement, not that Ash would have anyone to tell any of this to. He quickly signed it before handing it back to Karasuma the man turned to file it away. 

Bitch-sensei was sitting down in a chair now looking bored. At least that's what she was trying to look like, Ash could tell she was on alert, noting everything that he said and did. Her face didn’t show it but he could see it in the slightly stiff way she held herself. Korosensei spoke up again, his face changing to one with green stripes on it. “Do you really think you have the guts to kill me before the end of the school year?” Ash scoffed, one hand on his hip as his cockiness took over. “I’ve dealt with worse scum than you, plus even if I fail, it’s not like I’ll die.” The green stripes remained on the creature's face. Karasuma spoke up from his seat. “He will destroy the Earth if we don’t manage to kill him.” The blond haired boy's cockiness faded as he swept his hair out of his face. “We’re all gonna die someday, why does it matter if it’s a little early.”

The green stripes faded as if they were never there in the first place, “Wise words from a young man such as yourself, tell me what brings you to the E class.” There was a shift in the atmosphere as the boy felt the other teachers take interest, a nosy lot they were. Ash had to be careful with his answers, he didn’t want them to find out too much about his circumstances, this could be his only chance in a long time to have somewhat of a fresh start, minus the circumstances. Ash scoffed and rolled his eyes, “Considering I never made it past the second grade, it makes sense that I’m here, this class is for bad grades and delinquents right?” He didn’t wait for an answer, as he took a seat in a nearby chair. “Seems like I’ll fit right in.” 

The women and Korosensei seemed slightly shocked by the boy's answer, Karasuma’s face remained neutral. Suddenly the strange creature's features turned a bright pink as he exclaimed, “Ah! Where are my manners?” as he went around the room at an incredible speed, one minute his hands were empty, the next Ash was holding a steaming cup of tea and saucer, his lap now holding a small plate with sweets on it. The bright yellow teacher was seated back where he had been before, the only change was that he was also holding tea. 

“I can’t believe I forgot to offer refreshments.” He finished with a slight chuckle before sipping on his tea. Ash eyed his tea wearily, they wouldn’t expect anything in return if he took a sip would they? He chanced a risk and took a tentative sip, peeking at the adults' reactions, waiting for them to say the catch, but none came. The tea was quite pleasant in flavor, it had some floral notes and was a tad sweet but not overwhelmingly so. He finished his cup before Korosensei stood up. “Class is about to start, it is time for you to meet your future classmates.” Ash set aside the plate of sweets and brushed off the invisible dust on him before following him out of the room. 

%%%

As soon as the boy left Irina dropped her bored expression. Karasuma was typing away on a laptop, probably sending word to his superiors that the brat had signed the non-disclosure agreement. 

She leaned into her chair and sighed, staring up at the ceiling. There was something strange about that boy. He seemed bright, too bright to be here, but there was also the fact that he hadn’t gone to school past the second grade. That was highly unusual, it would be different if there were records stating that he had been since homeschooled following him dropping out but there was no such thing. There were hardly any records on the brat at all, it’s like he ceased to exist after that. She brought a hand to her face, biting her thumbnail in concentration. He has a bit of a criminal record, having been picked up for the small demeaner of stealing here and there, but that absolute lack of records beyond that left the assassin stumped. 

It’s as if he or someone else doesn't want him to be found. Not to mention how the kid seemed wary even accepting basic hospitality. She stopped chewing on her thumbnail and brought her hands behind her head. This brat will be an interesting one.

%%%

The classroom was filled with chatter as class had yet to begin. The door slid open as Korosensei took his usual place at the front of the class. The class quieted down at his presence, waiting with bated breath for him to say something, the waiting lasted a little too long. “What are you waiting for? Get on with it already!” and other exclamations were hurled at him as the class lost all patience with the octopus. Korosensei panicked and started waving his tentacles around as he hurried to explain. “No- wait!” He cried as bullets and knives rained down from the enraged class. “I was just trying to be cool!” He yelled as he continued to avoid the onslaught coming his way.

Getting annoyed with the entire situation Ash decided to put an end to his teacher's misery and walked through the doorway, the students halting their actions in the shock of an unfamiliar face. Korosensei came to a stop and gestured to the boy. “We have a new student this semester.” He turned to Ash, a clear indication for him to introduce himself. The boy faltered as suddenly many pairs of eyes were all focused on him. “My name is Ash Lynx, call me Ash.” 

Suddenly a student stands up and introduces himself. “I am Isogai, Yuma the class president, I look forward to learning with you and will work to make it a welcome experience for you.” Before bowing and sitting back down. Korosensei gestures for Ash to sit down, Ash does so choosing a seat in the back near a red headed kid. 

Class begins again in the Assassination Classroom.


	2. Lynx’s are solitary Creatures

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Italicized text= English

Class takes a break for lunch. Ash’s desk is surrounded by students eager to ask him questions now that they are given the chance. They overwhelm the poor boy, speaking too fast for him to fully process what they are saying. Before he can say anything to quiet them down, someone beats him to it. “I don’t think pretty-boy here knows much Japanese yet.” The other students stop bombarding the boy with questions as some apologize to him for the boy’s rudeness while others admonish the red-head for his crude nickname. Ash catches them calling the boy Karma. That must be his name. 

The red-headed student, gracefully gets up from his seat and confidently walks up to Ash’s desk; looming over the boy before he slams his hand down and leans in close. Cruel caramel eyes meet green as he states his challenge. _“Let the American defend himself.”_ He pauses in his scrutiny of the boy as he looks him up and down in disgust. _“Unless he’s not man enough to do so.”_ Ash narrows his eyes at the other boy, registering his challenge and subsequent threat before huffing out a laugh. The other students watch on in silent horror as Ash seems to completely dismiss the other boy. With a smirk on his face Ash, with both hands on the desk, leans in even closer to the other boy, head dipped down and tilted to the side with a smirk on his face he responds. “You’re not worth the effort.” Before pushing past the small crowd of students as he exits the classroom. 

Everything is still and quiet in the shock of that interaction before suddenly sound explodes. The other students return to their lunches as they whisper and gossip about what just happened as the red-headed boy from before is left to flounder in the humiliation of his failed scare tactic.

%%%

Karma was left gripping the edge of the new kids desk as humiliation flooded his system. He had miscalculated. This foreign boy was not what he appeared to be. He curses himself for being fooled by the other kids' looks. “Karma?” Came a soft cautious voice to his left. Suddenly the red-head realised he had a white-knuckled grip on the desk, shoulders shaking in rage, he stopped, releasing his grip on the desk and turned his attention to the meek mannered boy the voice belonged to. Nagisa stood beside him, his blue eyes full of concern. He smirked before responding. “I’m fine, Nagisa.” A loud scoff was heard behind him as Terasaka yelled at him. “Mister high and mighty just got a taste of his own medicine.” 

“Shutup you idiot!” Was heard as the loud-mouthed boy’s lackeys hurried to silence him. Karma was in a bad mood, best not to push your luck. Karma’s pride was wounded enough, he wasn’t gonna waste what little he had left on an idiot such as Terasaka. He went back to his seat and flopped down into it, lazily eating his lunch as he thought. He would have to reevaluate his previous assessment of the blond-haired foreigner. He was un-intimidated by Karma, not even in the slightest, even Korosensei was intimidated by him when they first met. What has made this kid so tough? Whatever the reason he looks forward to being the one able to squeeze the story out of him, in any way that he can.

%%%

Ash found himself outside the classroom, sitting in the grass leaning up against a tree. His stomach uncomfortably grumbling about its lack of food. He heaved a weary sigh, he’s grateful to be away from Dino, but being around other normal kids his age is exhausting. He’s nothing like them, they’re so innocent, untouched by the harshness that life offers. He sits up straight as he notices someone coming. 

The boy’s view of the sky is blocked by the yellow smiling face of his teacher. He notices his teacher is holding some sort of plastic bag, like he’d just come from a convenience store. The octopus, hands the bag towards him. “Why?” Asks the boy, what do you want in return, goes unsaid and unnoticed. “You seem to have forgotten your lunch, students learn better with full bellies.” The teacher says simply before setting the bag down in the grass beside him and walking back to the classroom. 

As soon as the teacher is out of sight Ash takes the bag and peeks inside, it looks like typical things that you’d find at an American convenience store. Clearly, the teacher tried to look for foods that Ash would be familiar with. The boy reached in and tentatively unwrapped a sandwich and took a bite. The boy didn’t know if it was just because he was hungry or because it came from a Japanese convenience store but that cheap lunch was one of the best ones he’s had. Satisfied he returned to leaning back against the tree and watching the clouds. He guesses random acts of kindness such as this must be a Japanese thing.

Soon enough his peaceful silence was ended by a bell being sounded, signaling the need to return to class. Begrudgingly, Ash gets up from his sunny spot and returns to class. 

%%%

Ash was walking back to the classroom when the other student’s started pouring out of the school building, coming his way. The students were wearing different outfits, gone were the prim and proper blazers from before, now they were replaced with blue tracksuits. Ash did not have any blue tracksuits so he elected to ignore that he wasn’t in the right clothing and followed his classmates out into the middle of the dirt clearing, stopping in front of Karasuma. 

“I want you all to get into groups of two and practice sparring with each other.” Commanded the stern teacher. The students scrambled to obey his orders. Karasuma turned to Ash, “You stay behind.” Ash obeyed and walked over to the broad-man. Karasuma was holding a folded pair of the blue track suits that the other students were wearing. “Go change into these, for today you’re with me. I would like to assess your skills, or lack thereof, in combat.” Ash nodded, taking the soft blue cloth in his hands as he went into the locker room and changed into it.

He emerged and was standing in front of Karasuma awaiting instructions. He gestured to a small container of bright pink balls explaining that they were anti-korosensei pellets and that they cannot harm humans. He also took out a bright green rubber knife and explained that they held the same properties as the pellets. “Now I would like you to try and load and shoot the gun at the target.” He gestured to a hilariously badly drawn cut-out of Korosensei, with markings of the distances on it. Ash picked up the handgun and turned it over in his hands, testing how the weight differed from a real gun. He reached inside the small container and picked up some of the pink pellets and loaded the gun. He made sure the safety was off before aiming, breathing out and firing.

Karasuma let out a hum of interest as he watched the boy examine and load the gun. This clearly wasn’t his first time handling one. The boy seemed to sense what his teacher was thinking as he answered him. The boy lowered his gun and turned to Karasuma. “My father owns a gun, he taught me how to shoot it.” Karasuma nodded before going over to the target seeing how well his aim was. There in bright pink splatter was a well-aimed shot at where a human’s heart lies. Karasuma went back to his student and picked up one of the rubber knives. 

“Try disarming me.” Karasuma crouched in a defensive position, knife held out in front of him. Ash’s stare became focused as he also crouched down. Karasuma started it off by lunging at the boy, hoping to catch him off guard, but the boy went under his arm and brought a well-aimed kick to the teacher's face. The boy made an attempt to use the momentum of the kick to make Karasuma stumble. It failed as Karasuma grabbed the boy's ankle, yanking him forwards. Ash reacted quickly, not even put off that his original plan had failed, he used him being yanked forward to his advantage headbutting Karasuma in the face. This caused the falter in his step, Ash used the opportunity to make a grab for his wrist of the hand that was holding the knife but Karasuma, used his other hand to push the kid away, making him fall to the ground, effectively winning the match. 

The boy was panting and when he looked around at the boys classmates the other students were tired too. “Break, go hydrate.” He barked at the students, who seemed more than happy to catch a break from their sparring.

%%%

Karasuma took this time to think about what he just witnessed. The kid could load and shoot fairly well. Better than most, although that is in part due to his background. Guns are legal in America, it makes sense that he would have some knowledge about them. What doesn’t make sense is his knowledge of combat. The kid held up fairly well and managed to even get some hits on him. The kid is experienced, not too surprising with his small record with the law but stealing doesn’t equate to fighting. 

There’s also the kid's eyes. Before the match started the kid’s stare became focused and his eye’s hard, as if trying to steel himself, but he didn’t manage to hide the wild look of instinct. Pure instinct, as if it was bred into him, that such interactions were as normal as breathing. It was concerning to say the least.

%%%

Ash walked on over to the water cooler where his other classmates were, grateful to be getting a cool drink. He was in the middle of drinking some water from a paper cup when an arm landed over his shoulders with a, “You did so well!” Startling him and causing him to choke on his drink. The blond galred at the offender, it was a blond girl he hadn’t met yet. He glared at her as he shrugged out of her one-armed hug. “No seriously, you even got a few hits on Karasuma-sensei!” Ash looked at her not really knowing how to respond. “...thank you.” He said awkwardly, having taken a little bit of time to respond. “My name is Rio by the way.” Ash didn’t respond, everybody knew who he was. He glared harder, in an attempt to make her go away. 

The classmate didn’t leave him alone instead, she got a sly look on her face as she leaned in closer to him, voice full of amusement. “Eh? What are you being so modest for? Are you worried that we’ll discover that you’re secretly an assassin?” She continued to smile with that smug look on her face. “No.” He answered simply hoping she would take the hint and leave him alone. She didn’t. She bombarded him with questions trying to ‘prove’ that he was some kind of secret assassin. He didn’t bother with most of her questions, electing to ignore them, and her altogether in favor of having a more peaceful water-break. There was one that caught his attention though. “There has to be something here, I refuse to believe otherwise.” She whined slumping forwards with disappointment at his lack of participation with her interrogation. She perked up with a bright look on her face as she seemed to have thought of something. “Have you ever killed someone before?” 

The question threw Ash for a loop. He hadn’t expected her to ask such a straightforward question. He could lie, not draw attention to himself but no one can talk about what happens in this classroom, they couldn’t tell anyone if he said yes. The question was already answered before he could answer himself, no normal person takes that long to answer such a simple question. Rio’s bright smile dropped into something grim. “What? You got what you wanted didn’t you?” Ash asked harshly, she brought this upon herself. The girl’s eyes looked sad as she quietly asked “What happened.” Ash huffed and rolled his eyes. “Don’t worry it was self defense.” He didn’t explain any further. The girl didn’t ask.

Ash realised that the chatter around them had stopped. The other students had heard their discussion, they were probably listening in just as curious as the girl, but not as bold to ask him. He looked at the other students daring them to say anything, none of them looked him in the eyes. The only one who did was the red-headed kid who tried to fight him earlier. While this information seemed to only serve to push his classmates away, it did the opposite for Karma. His eyes were full of interest. 

Any other discussion is broken by Karasuma-sensei calling for the class to gather up again. Break time was over. 

%%%

Class finally ends. He was packing up and just about to exit the school building and start his long trek home when a green haired girl approaches him. “Hello! I don’t believe we’ve met. I’m Kayano.” She greeted far too cheerily. Ash just raises an eyebrow waiting for her to get to the point of why she approached him. He was surprised she approached him after gym today. She seemed slightly bashful now, head lowering a bit as a blush colors her cheeks. “Since you’re new I was wondering if you needed help getting home.” The girl seemed to regain her confidence again, as she smiled at him now, her earlier hesitance forgotten.

Ash wasn’t quite sure why, but something about the girl put him on edge. Ash has faked many smiles in his life, this girl was doing just that. The question was why, and until he found that out Ash was intent on keeping her at a distance. “No thanks.” He said simply, before walking past and heading to his temporary home.

%%%

Ash arrived home just fine. He put away his school supplies and changed into some semi-nice clothes. He didn’t have time to relax after that eventful day, he had to find work. 

Ash managed to find work in a slightly shady little restaurant. Dino wouldn’t know he wasn’t getting the money from hookin, and it was a risk he was willing to take. It was pretty obvious to him that it was some sort of front for a drug smuggling business, as long as the goods weren’t people he’d turn a blind eye, for a price of course. He had turned him being a foreigner to his advantage, convincing the owner that he was just some dumb American kid looking for a little side gig to help his pops. He would start his first shift immediately. 

This is the only time Ash sees his good looks as some sort of blessing, on his own Ash is considered a beauty, here though he is considered a foreign beauty. He brings in an extra influx of customers to the sham of a restaurant, cementing his value to this place. As long as Ash grits his teeth and charms the customers, even the ones with wandering hands, he has a steady supply of cash.

%%%

After his shift Ash gets paid and with his money he heads to a convenience store and stocks up on food essentials. After returning home and putting away his groceries, his phone buzzes in his pocket. The boy grimaces, Dino never let the leash get too loose.

%%% 

After he gets home, eats a small meal and puts his grocery’s away Ash changes into street clothes. Grabbing a small pocket knife for protection he heads out the door. 

The Lynx wanders the endless night alone, memorizing the confines of his territory. Making sure that he knows the streets and alleyways just as well as he does the ones back home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoyed! Please tell me if I tagged anything wrong/need to fix the tags. 
> 
> Also Jesus Christ this chapter was a doozy to write. I thought about cutting the part between Karma and Ash out but went against it. Ash being a transfer student from a whole other country the other students are under the impression that he’s an assassin. Obviously Karan would feel threatened by his presence, some random kid here to kill the octopus before HIM? Nah that’s not gonna fly with Karma. I took inspiration from how Karma treated Korosensei when Karma joined the class, Karma tries to intimidate Ash but it backfires.

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you enjoyed! I will post the next chapter sometime next week. If I have improperly tagged things please let me know.


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